Opposing Views - Kaitlyn Hunthttp://www.opposingviews.com/taxonomy/term/58527/0
enKaitlyn Hunt, The Florida Teen Arrested For Same-Sex Relationship with Underage Girlfriend, Accepts New Plea Dealhttp://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/gay-issues/kaitlyn-hunt-florida-teen-arrested-same-sex-relationship-underage-girlfriend
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Cheerleader Arrested For Same-Sex Relationship Learns Her Fate </div>
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<p>Kaitlyn Hunt, the Florida teenager who was arrested for having sex with her underage girlfriend, has <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/02/justice/florida-gay-teen-kaitlyn-hunt-case/">just accepted a plea deal</a>.</p>
<p>Nineteen-year-old Hunt, who was 18 at the time she was charged, was in a sexual relationship with another girl at her high school, who was 14 at the time. The 14-year-old’s parents found out about the relationship and had Hunt expelled from school and arrested. After many months of legal drama, Hunt has now accepted a proposed plea deal that <a href="http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/crime/kaitlyn-hunt-girl-charged-dating-same-sex-classmate-offered-plea-deal">Opposing Views reported on back in August</a>.</p>
<p>The deal will consist of a number of different factors. Hunt will plead no contest to five charges, including two counts of misdemeanor battery, misdemeanor contributing to the dependency of a child, and two counts of felony interference with child custody. Hunt will serve four months in jail, followed by two years of house arrest, and finally nine months of probation. After losing her last plea deal in August by violating a court order not to be in contact with the victim, Hunt has been in jail attempting to get a new deal.</p>
<p>Prosecutor Brian Workman says that the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2442192/Lesbian-cheerleader-Kaitlyn-Hunt-given-3rd-plea-deal.html">deal is as fair</a> as it’s going to be, considering all the circumstances.</p>
<p>“I believe this is a fair and balanced offer that protects the victim,” said Workman, “while giving Ms. Hunt the ability to avoid the most severe consequences of her crimes by demonstrating that no further punishment is necessary.”</p>
<p>The case garnered national media attention after Hunt’s parents and lawyers claimed that the only reason the 14-year-old girl’s parents pressed charges was because they believed Hunt turned their daughter into a lesbian. Hunt’s parents and lawyers believe that had Hunt have been a male, this would never have happened.</p>
<p>“They are out to destroy my daughter, because they feel like she ‘made’ their daughter gay,” said Hunt’s mother back in May. “They see being gay as wrong and they blame my daughter. Of course, I see it 100 percent differently. I don’t see or label these girls as gay. They are teenagers in high school experimenting with their sexuality&nbsp;—&nbsp;with mutual consent. And even if their daughter is gay, who cares? She is still their daughter.”</p>
<p>Still, the <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/23/justice/florida-teen-sex-case/index.html">court maintains</a> that it has nothing to do with the fact that Hunt is gay, but everything to do with the fact that the victim was only 14-years-old, and Hunt was 18.</p>
<p>Hunt’s attorney Julia Graves <a href="http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_indian_river_county/kaitlyn-hunt-same-sex-case-update-hunt-to-accept-new-plea-deal">released a statement</a> announcing the acceptance of the plea deal. That statement is below.</p>
<p><em>Kaitlyn Hunt is accepting the plea deal in her best interest as well as that of her family, the “victim” and the “victim’s” family.&nbsp; It is time to enter a plea given the current state of the law and get back to living a somewhat normal life without fear of the unknown for everyone involved.&nbsp; There is too much risk in trying the case when the State, particularly Mr. Workman has willingly worked with defense counsel to obtain this negotiated plea.&nbsp; Kaitlyn is giving up many rights by entering the plea.&nbsp; Not only does she relinquish her legal rights to a trial and requiring the State to prove their case, but she also gives up the opportunity for her supporters as well as her detractors to see and hear any testimony or evidence.</em></p>
<p><em>We are hoping to put the litigation behind.&nbsp; We are concerned about the civil litigation continuing with the attorneys for the “victim’s” family for monetary damages but nothing in a civil suit affects the plea we are accepting or causes any violations.&nbsp; Nonetheless, Kaitlyn is going to move on with her life and follow the conditions of her community control and probation imposed by the Court.&nbsp; The next task upon her release from incarceration is to work with supporters and lawmakers toward a change in the law for teenagers attending the same school, no matter what their sexual orientation is.&nbsp; Together, we intend to be available to help educate the students attending our schools and their parents, as well as the teachers and administration that are unaware of these laws and the severe consequences they can carry.&nbsp; Kaitlyn, her family, friends and supporters never want to see another teenager in this kind of situation. Kaitlyn is particularly grateful to her entire family for their nonstop love and support as well as the many well-wishers and supporters around the globe.</em></p><div class="field field-type-number-integer field-field-google-news">
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http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/gay-issues/kaitlyn-hunt-florida-teen-arrested-same-sex-relationship-underage-girlfriend#commentsDebateGay IssuesSocietytopgayissuesFloridaKaitlyn HuntLawsuitLegallesbianplea dealTeenagerThu, 03 Oct 2013 12:44:19 +0000Dominic Kelly700862 at http://www.opposingviews.comGay Florida Teen Kaitlyn Hunt Accused Of Underage Sex Arrested Again http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/gay-issues/gay-florida-teen-kaitlyn-hunt-accused-underage-sex-arrested-again
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<p>A gay Florida teen who has already had problems with the law was arrested on Monday and charged with violating her pretrial court order by contacting her girlfriend.</p>
<p>Kaitlyn Hunt, 19, is accused of having sex with her then-14-year-old girlfriend. Hunt was 18 at the time. She was expelled from school and charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious battery.</p>
<p>Hunt says the sex was consensual, but the state of Florida considers intercourse with a person under 16 to be a felony offense, <a href="http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/crime/kaitlyn-hunt-girl-charged-dating-same-sex-classmate-offered-plea-deal">as previously reported</a> on Opposing Views.</p>
<p>A pretrial court order <a href="http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/gay-issues/florida-teen-kaitlyn-hunt-arrested-expelled-over-same-sex-relationship">forbade Hunt from contacting the victim</a>. There are now allegations that Hunt met with the victim and sent her sexually explicit photos via the Internet.</p>
<p>Prosecutors also say that Hunt's mother, Kelley Hunt Smith, has been asking the victim to delete text messages that she exchanged with her daughter.</p>
<p>Hunt now faces the possibility of <a href="http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/teen-accused-sex-underage-classmate-arrested/nZS2W/">more criminal charges</a>.</p>
<p>Sources: <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/19/kaitlyn-hunt-arrested_n_3782890.html">The Huffington Post</a>, <a href="http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/teen-accused-sex-underage-classmate-arrested/nZS2W/">WFTV</a></p><div class="field field-type-number-integer field-field-google-news">
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http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/gay-issues/gay-florida-teen-kaitlyn-hunt-accused-underage-sex-arrested-again#commentsGay IssuesSocietytopgayissuesFelony OffenseFLAFlorida SexGay Florida TeenKaitlyn HuntKelley Hunt SmithLewd And Lascivious BatteryTeen Busted For Underage SexUnderage TeenTue, 20 Aug 2013 13:02:40 +0000Evan Bleier694403 at http://www.opposingviews.comKaitlyn Hunt, Girl Charged For Dating Same-Sex Classmate, Offered Plea Dealhttp://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/crime/kaitlyn-hunt-girl-charged-dating-same-sex-classmate-offered-plea-deal
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<p>In May, <a href="http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/gay-issues/florida-teen-kaitlyn-hunt-arrested-expelled-over-same-sex-relationship">we told you about Katelyn Hunt</a>, the 18-year-old Florida teenager who was arrested and expelled from her high school for having a same-sex relationship with a 14-year-old at her school.</p>
<p>Although Hunt and her girlfriend had a consensual relationship, the younger girl’s parents did not approve of their daughter dating a girl. Since Hunt was 18, and technically dating a minor, the young girls parents decided to press charge against her. Hunt was charged with two misdemeanor counts of lewd and lascivious battery of a child 12-16 years old, and one felony count of interfering with child custody. Many were enraged by the charges, calling them an abuse of legislation that is designed to protect children from sexual predators. After all, 18-year-old high school seniors from all across the country often date younger classmates.</p>
<p>After several months of inactivity, there’s an update on Hunt’s case today.</p>
<p>On Wednesday, Hunt’s 19th birthday, <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2394516/Kaitlyn-Hunt-Lesbian-high-school-student-urged-plea-deal-19th-birthday-sex-charges.html">she was offered a plea deal from prosecutors</a>. If Hunt pleads no contest to the three charges, she will not face jail time or be forced to register as a sex offender. Under the terms of the deal, Hunt would be placed on probation, have an 11 pm curfew for two years, and have to perform community service. &nbsp;She must also agree never to contact the 14-year-old girl again.</p>
<p>Hunt has not decided on whether or not she will accept the deal, since doing so would admit wrongdoing on her behalf. The state attorney presiding over the case is encouraging Hunt to take the deal, saying it addresses both her concerns and the concerns of the younger girl’s family.</p>
<p>Hunt’s family and their legal team continue to dispute the charges.</p>
<p>“If this case involved a boy and girl, there would be no media attention to this case," her attorney <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/14/justice/florida-teen-sex-case/index.html?hpt=us_c2">Julia Graves said in a statement</a>.”... If this incident occurred 108 days earlier when (Hunt) was 17, we wouldn't even be here."</p>
<p>In May, Hunt’s mother, Kelley Hunt Smith, said the reasons for the charges stem from same-sex relationship stigma, not from the age difference between the girls.</p>
<p>“They are out to destroy my daughter, because they feel like she ‘made’ their daughter gay,” Hunt Smith said. “They see being gay as wrong and they blame my daughter. Of course, I see it 100 percent differently. I don’t see or label these girls as gay. They are teenagers in high school experimenting with their sexuality – with mutual consent. And even if their daughter is gay, who cares? She is still their daughter.”</p>
<p>No trial date has been announced for the case at this time. If convicted of the charges, Hunt may face up to 15 years in prison.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Sources: <a href="http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/gay-issues/florida-teen-kaitlyn-hunt-arrested-expelled-over-same-sex-relationship">Opposing Views</a>, <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2394516/Kaitlyn-Hunt-Lesbian-high-school-student-urged-plea-deal-19th-birthday-sex-charges.html">Daily Mail</a>, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/14/justice/florida-teen-sex-case/index.html?hpt=us_c2">CNN</a></p><div class="field field-type-number-integer field-field-google-news">
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http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/crime/kaitlyn-hunt-girl-charged-dating-same-sex-classmate-offered-plea-deal#commentsCrimeDebateHeadlinesRelationshipsSocietytopgayissuestopsocietyKaitlyn HuntMisdemeanor Batter Countsplea dealSame-Sex DatingThu, 15 Aug 2013 22:23:18 +0000Jonathan Wolfe694052 at http://www.opposingviews.comKaitlyn Hunt Refuses Plea Deal, Will Face Trial for Same-Sex Relationship with Teenhttp://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/crime/kaitlyn-hunt-refuses-plea-deal-will-face-trial-same-sex-relationship-teen
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<p>Florida teen Kaitlyn Hunt has refused to take a plea deal after being charged with two felonies for a same-sex relationship that she had with a 15-year-old peer. Hunt has decided to risk her future at trial.</p>
<p>Hunt, 18, was <a href="http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/gay-issues/florida-teen-kaitlyn-hunt-arrested-expelled-over-same-sex-relationship">arrested</a> in February when her girlfriend’s parents reported her relationship with their minor daughter to police. Hunt was charged with two felony counts of lewd and lascivious battery of a child 12 to 16 years old. A judge ruled she could still attend her Sebastian, Fla., high school with the other girl as long as she did not have contact with her. The girl’s parents then appealed to the school board and had Hunt expelled from Sebastian River High School just weeks before she would have graduated.</p>
<p>State Attorney Brian Workman offered Hunt a plea deal that included “two years house arrest and one year probation,” Hunt’s mother Kelley Hunt Smith said.</p>
<p>"Our client is a courageous teenager who is choosing not to accept the current plea offer by the state of Florida," said Hunt’s family attorney Julia Graves in a statement Friday.</p>
<p>Graves’ said:</p>
<blockquote><p><em>"It's a situation of two teenagers who happen to be of the same sex involved in a relationship. If this case involved a boy and a girl, we don't believe there'd be the media attention to this case. Our client's a model citizen. She's been placed in an environment of school with her classmates where they go to school together, they have lunch together, and play on the same team (and are) allowed to have communication and contact without barriers. Then when something develops between the two of them as a result of this environment which is created by the state, it leads to criminal prosecution."</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>A <a href="http://www.change.org/petitions/assistant-state-attorney-brian-workman-stop-the-prosecution-of-an-18-year-old-girl-in-a-same-sex-relationship">Change.org petition</a> to stop the prosecution of Hunt has more than 284,000 signatures.</p>
<p>The charges are serious enough to haunt Hunt the rest of her life.</p>
<p>"There are colleges that will not let felons do certain things, or child abuse charges, where you can't supervise field trips or your own children later, you can't participate in things," Graves said Wednesday. "These are things that will certainly affect her future if she takes this current plea offer."</p>
<p>Hunt’s girlfriend, who is still a minor, was 14-years-old when their relationship began last year. The girls met on the basketball team at their high school.</p>
<p>Hunt’s father, Steven R. Hunt, said his daughter was a good student who participated in cheerleading, chorus and basketball at her school. When she started dating the other girl on her team, her coach dropped her from the team over concerns it would cause “drama.”</p>
<p>The ACLU of Florida released a <a href="http://aclufl.org/2013/05/21/aclu-of-florida-statement-on-prosecution-of-18-year-old-kaitlyn-hunt/">statement</a> Tuesday admonishing the prosecution.</p>
<p>“The facts as we understand them suggest that the state is prosecuting Kaitlyn for engaging in behavior that is both fairly innocuous and extremely common,” said the ACLU statement. “Such behavior occurs every day in tens of thousands of high schools across the country, yet those other students are not facing felony convictions (and, in Florida, the lifetime consequences of a felony conviction) and potential lifelong branding as sex offenders.”</p>
<p>The family believes the minor would not have pressed charges herself and that her parents are to blame over the ordeal.</p>
<p>“They are out to destroy my daughter, because they feel like she ‘made’ their daughter gay,” Hunt Smith said. “They see being gay as wrong and they blame my daughter. Of course, I see it 100 percent differently. I don’t see or label these girls as gay. They are teenagers in high school experimenting with their sexuality – with mutual consent. And even if their daughter is gay, who cares? She is still their daughter.”</p>
<p>Sources: <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/24/kaitlyn-hunt-refuses-plea-deal-gay-teen-charged_n_3331434.html">Huffington Post</a>, <a href="http://www.wpbf.com/news/south-florida/treasure-coast/kaitlyn-hunt-will-not-take-a-plea-deal/-/8882916/20290912/-/kwrq5k/-/index.html">WPBF.com</a></p><div class="field field-type-number-integer field-field-google-news">
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http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/crime/kaitlyn-hunt-refuses-plea-deal-will-face-trial-same-sex-relationship-teen#commentsCrimeGay IssuesSocietytopsocietyACLUGay RightsKaitlyn HuntSebastian FloridaSat, 25 May 2013 17:32:12 +0000Sarah Fruchtnicht667978 at http://www.opposingviews.comFlorida Teen Kaitlyn Hunt Arrested, Expelled Over Same-Sex Relationshiphttp://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/gay-issues/florida-teen-kaitlyn-hunt-arrested-expelled-over-same-sex-relationship
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<p>A Florida high school student was expelled and arrested after she continued to carry on a same-sex relationship with a minor student after she turned 18.</p>
<p>Kaitlyn Hunt was arrested in February at the behest of her 15-year-old girlfriend’s parents and charged with two felony counts of lewd and lascivious battery of a child 12 to 16 years old.</p>
<p>A judge ruled that Hunt could still go to her Sebastian, Fla., school if she did not have contact with the 15-year-old. Unhappy with that decision, the girlfriend’s parents also made an appeal to the school board, and Hunt was then expelled from Sebastian River High School just weeks before her graduation.</p>
<p>Her mother, Kelley Hunt Smith, claims State Attorney Brian Workman offered her daughter a plea deal that she has until Friday to accept or face trial. The plea deal includes “two years house arrest and one year probation.”</p>
<p>Her father, Steven R. Hunt, said the school disapproved of the relationship from the beginning. Hunt reportedly had good grades and participated in cheerleading, chorus and basketball. She was voted “most school spirited.” But when she began dating another girl from the basketball team, her coach dropped her citing that the relationship would cause “drama.”</p>
<p>Hunt’s family started a petition on <a href="http://www.change.org/petitions/assistant-state-attorney-brian-workman-stop-the-prosecution-of-an-18-year-old-girl-in-a-same-sex-relationship">Change.org</a> asking people to “Stop the prosecution of 18 year old girl in a same-sex relationship” and calling it a “cruel waste of our taxes.” The petition, addressed to the Indian River County State Attorney’s Office, has more than 28,500 signatures so far.</p>
<p>“They are out to destroy my daughter, because they feel like she ‘made’ their daughter gay,” Hunt Smith said. “They see being gay as wrong and they blame my daughter. Of course, I see it 100 percent differently. I don’t see or label these girls as gay. They are teenagers in high school experimenting with their sexuality – with mutual consent. And even if their daughter is gay, who cares? She is still their daughter.”</p>
<p>Hunt’s little sister, who also goes to the school, has seen crude and ugly comments like “rapist,” “child abuser,” and “criminal” written about her sister on bathroom walls.</p>
<p>Not only would Hunt miss graduating if she took the plea deal, she would have a felony permanently tarnishing her recond.</p>
<p>Sources: <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/666897/kaitlyn-hunt-expulsion-arrest-for-same-sex-relationship-inspires-facebook-campaign/">Inquistr</a>, <a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/florida-teen-fights-expulsion-and-criminal-charges-for-same-sex-relationship?no_cache=1368978142">Examiner</a></p><div class="field field-type-number-integer field-field-google-news">
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http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/gay-issues/florida-teen-kaitlyn-hunt-arrested-expelled-over-same-sex-relationship#commentsDebateGay IssuesSocietyGay RightsKaitlyn HuntSebastian FloridaMon, 20 May 2013 11:39:16 +0000Sarah Fruchtnicht664774 at http://www.opposingviews.com